It started about a month ago. My neck and middle back hurt. So did my arm and shoulder. My right arm would literally go numb and I would have to sorta carry it around with me. Since I could find no relief from the constant twinge of pain in one or the other of these areas, I went to my husband's chiropractor, Dr. Paige Harding in Platte City, MO.
I say he is my husband's chiropractor, because my chiropractor is Dr. David Peters. I still haven't accepted the fact that he relocated to Cape Girardeau, MO. So, now I resign myself to go see Dr. Harding, the chiropractor my real chiropractor recommended to us. Dr. Harding did help my arm. But, it was temporary. Within days, I was back where I started.
Next, I saw a massage therapist. She worked for a solid hour to untie all the knots from my shoulder and arm, but, was unable to do so. She practically demanded that I return in a couple of days. Easy enough said, more expensive to do. She was almost angry with me that I was in such a shape. Like a modern day Columbo, she asked me about my day, where I'd been, what I'd done. I told her all I did that day was work on the computer, nothing physical. Now, she gloated that she'd solved the case. Repetitive motion, that is what is doing it. I wasn't convinced.
But, I listened attentively, as she gave me some exercises. Place your hands on either side of a door frame. Lean forward. Try it. You can feel the stretch as it relaxes the tension. Stand next to a table. Place your hand flat on the table, with fingers pointing behind you. With your outside leg remaining solid, step back with your inside leg. Ahhh. That feels good, too.
I agreed to be back in five days. But, the next day, I was worse than ever. I was in excruciating pain with non stop muscle spasms. My arm was numb. My back hurt, my neck hurt, my shoulder hurt. I remembered that one of the things the therapist did to work the knot out was to firmly press down on the offending muscle. She would do this for about twenty seconds. It helped.
Now that I was in pain from muscle spasms I wished I had something to back up against to push that muscle that was killing me. I told my husband about it and he produced a golf ball. He told me to lie down on the floor and put the golf ball in the place that was hurting. So, I did. Guess what? IT WORKED! At first, it hurt a lot! But, then, miraculously, it HELPED! I continued to do this in all the troublesome areas. I felt so much better. I was even feeling fine, today. Simple Remedy and FREE (if you have a golf ball around the house).
I share the golf ball remedy because it worked! I hope it will help someone who suffers as I have.
Now, here are some good rules for typing ergonomics (pretty sure I was breaking all of them):
Let me know if this helped. Be sure to pass it on if it does!
Informative Links:
http://www.ergonomickeyboards.org/
http://thebeautybean.com/site/sweat/finger-pain-from-texting-3-smartphone-stretches-to-save-your-wrists-hands/
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/pain/articles/2009/07/06/too-much-texting-can-spell-neck-arm-pain
http://www.safecomputingtips.com/blog/healthy-computing/how-computer-use-can-cause-arm-pain-and-how-to-reduce-it/
I told my massage therapist about the golf ball and she said it was a great idea. Put it in a sock so you can just pull it where it needs to go. Instead of having to reposition. :)
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